Exploring the Psychological Impact of Quarantine: An Investigation into Eating Patterns, Emotions, and Loneliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Greece.

PURPOSE: The implementation of quarantine measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges linked to adverse psychological effects, notably affecting individuals' eating patterns. This study aimed to investigate the eating patterns of individuals during lockdowns compared across sex, age, and income levels, and examine the influence of positive and negative emotions, as well as loneliness, on these patterns. METHODS: A cross-sectional online study was conducted with 450 participants (aged 18-74 years old). One questionnaire about demographics, the Demographic Questionnaire, and three validated self-report scales (Eating Attitudes Test, comprising the Dieting, Bulimia, and Food Preoccupation, and Oral Control subscales, the Modified Differential Emotions Scale, and the UCLA Loneliness Scale) were employed. Convenience and snowball sampling were used. The data were collected between April and May 2021, primarily through social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The survey questionnaire was shared via these platforms and users could answer if they wanted. Also, they were asked to send the questionnaire to their close contacts. Additionally, the survey questionnaire was distributed face-to-face to 80 participants. The statistical analyses included linear regression and mediation analyses. RESULTS:  Abnormal eating patterns (e.g. eating behaviors that tend to have signs of diet such as constant avoidance of fattening foods, the individual's involvement with becoming leaner, extreme control or preoccupation with food, overeating and purging methods) were identified in 25% of the 450 participants participated in this survey, aged 18-74 years. Moderate levels of negative/positive emotions and loneliness were predominantly reported. Female sex was significantly associated with abnormal eating patterns (p=0.010), particularly dietary behaviors (p=0.029). Negative emotions (p=0.032) and loneliness (p=0.001) emerged as predictive factors for overall eating patterns and bulimic behaviors. Negative emotions exhibited a direct correlation with eating patterns, while loneliness played a significant mediating role (p=0.032). Furthermore, the association between negative emotions and bulimia was partially mediated by loneliness (p=0.018). CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the pivotal roles of negative emotions and loneliness in shaping eating patterns during quarantine. Multilevel public health interventions are needed to address the negative effects of quarantine and pandemics in general. Screening tests for mental health in the school and job environments could highlight the need for shaping interventions, such as counseling, group empowerment, and family support in order to mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on eating behaviors and mental health in general.

Systematic Investigation of Resistance Evolution to Common Antibiotics Reveals Conserved Collateral Responses across Common Human Pathogens.

As drug resistance continues to grow, treatment strategies that turn resistance into a disadvantage for the organism will be increasingly relied upon to treat infections and to lower the rate of multidrug resistance. The majority of work in this area has investigated how resistance evolution toward a single antibiotic effects a specific organism's collateral response to a wide variety of antibiotics. The results of these studies have been used to identify networks of drugs which can be used to drive resistance in a particular direction. However, little is known about the extent of evolutionary conservation of these responses across species. We sought to address this knowledge gap by performing a systematic resistance evolution study of the ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter cloacae) under uniform growth conditions using five clinically relevant antibiotics with diverse modes of action. Evolved lineages were analyzed for collateral effects and the molecular mechanisms behind the observed phenotypes. Fourteen universal cross-resistance and two global collateral sensitivity relationships were found among the lineages. Genomic analyses revealed drug-dependent divergent and conserved evolutionary trajectories among the pathogens. Our findings suggest that collateral responses may be preserved across species. These findings may help extend the contribution of previous collateral network studies in the development of treatment strategies to address the problem of antibiotic resistance.

Cryopreservation and fast recovery of enriched syngas-converting microbial communities.

Over the last decades, the use of mixed microbial communities has attracted increasing scientific attention due to their potential biotechnological applications in several emerging technological platforms such as the carboxylate, bioplastic, syngas and bio-electrochemical synthesis platforms. However, this increasing interest has not been accompanied by a parallel development of suitable cryopreservation techniques for microbial communities. While cryopreservation methods for the long-term storage of axenic cultures are well established, their effectiveness in preserving the microbial diversity and functionality of microbial communities has rarely been studied. In this study, the effect of the addition of different cryopreservation agents on the long-term storage of microbial communities at -80 °C was studied using a stable enrichment culture converting syngas into acetate and ethanol. The cryopreservation agents considered in the study were glycerol, dimethylsulfoxide, polyvinylpyrrolidone, Tween 80 and yeast extract, as well as with no addition of cryopreservation agent. Their effectiveness was evaluated based on the microbial activity recovery and the maintenance of the microbial diversity and community structure upon revival of the microbial community. The results showed that the commonly used glycerol and no addition of cryopreservation agent were the least recommendable methods for the long-term frozen storage of microbial communities, while Tween 80 and polyvinylpyrrolidone were overall the most effective. Among the cryoprotectants studied, polyvinylpyrrolidone and especially Tween 80 were the only ones assuring reproducible results in terms of microbial activity recovery and microbial community structure preservation.